Being Green not sending Xmas Cards

foxgloves

Cut down a lot on cards at work by sending a nice one to everybody or doing the charity big card thing in the previous post. I still send to family & friends though. I really like receiving cards myself but I always recycle them into something else afterwards, as they are too nice just to be dumped in the recycling bin. I do the same with wrapping paper.....I can't remember when I last bought any. People have only occasionally commented on my reusing of wrapping paper, but the daft thing is these have tended to be people on less income than me, so I can't understand why they would go and buy brand new rolls every time.

gull5426

at my work, they dont send cards to people, they just have a charity donation box if you want.. instead

Caterina

I have struggled with this one for years now, my closest friends know that I do not do cards but I used to send them to clients when I had a business, and to people I knew would not understand.

This year, no cards to anyone, but good wishes in person to friends and family nearby and phone calls to the faraway ones.

Seakay

I only send cards to people that I will not see in the run up to Christmas or on the day itself, and those that I do send are made from recycled card and are sold in aid of a charity (don't be fooled by the packs of charity cards they sell in supermarkets etc - hardly any £s goes to a good cause).
I gave up distributing cards in work way back in the '80s when I realised how ridiculous it was to be keeping a box of cards in my locker to give to people I barely knew just because they gave me a card!
I started to say "thank you" to everyone who gave me a card but stopped handing them out. Instead, I put a notice on my locker door saying which charity I was donating to instead of buying cards that year.

Zazen999

I stopped sending cards years ago, long before being green was fashionable. For work [when I worked in an office] I told them that they would get the same amount of space, but in cake form [as an open card is the same shape as a slice of round cake], and they loved it.

KimYeovil

Are you seriously suggesting that Christmas cards once a year is remotely comparable to supermarket packaging, central heating at home, bumf at work, clothing, holidays, etcetera? What about all the energy wasted through radial distribution when buying locally instead of the efficient supermarket infrastructure? Don't give cards to casual acquaintances or round robins at work. But do send them to loved ones, friends and some distant relatives.

If you do not want to be 'wasteful' then why not write in them a message and send notecards-come-Christmas cards? If you can't think of anything individual you want to tell the recipient then strike them off your list.

Sending a written letter or notecard is never a waste of paper.

Under no circumstances send an electronic card. To anyone. They are abominations and reflect very badly on you.